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Monday, 7 January 2013

Ducati Desmoquattro Superbike FAQ

I wrote the Ducati Desmoquattro Superbike FAQ a few years ago based on my own research when I was looking for my personal 916. I've since updated it with corrected info and personal experience with my intemperate Italian bitch. If you want to buy a 748-916-996, this is where you should start.

What’s good about them?

Well, many things. Most people tend to
agree that the 916 series is a ground breaking model and will remain a classic
motorbike for years to come. This ensures decent resale and means you’ll always
know you bought a motorbike with genuine heritage and prestige. They are
beautiful machines, inside and out, from the small details up to the bike au
complet. The Italians are particularly good at making the machine as a whole
seem like an intricate piece of art, with individual parts being beautiful on
their own merit as well as bolted together. Beyond the good looks, these bikes
are great to ride too. Handling is very manageable and confidence inspiring,
not to mention very stable. These bikes are very responsive to suspension setup
and mild performance tuning, turning a great bike into a fantastic one. And few
will argue against the cachet and head turning potential of these machines.

What’s bad about them?

Many things. They cannot be neglected or
abused – they require frequent maintenance and careful servicing, otherwise
they will suffer serious mechanical failures. They need to be used regularly or
they will suffer a whole other set of problems. The electrical system is
inadequate on early models, without exception. They are dogs to ride at low
speeds, they are uncomfortable, and they are utterly uncompromising machines.
They were designed as race bikes first and street bikes second – remember that
and it won’t seem so bad when you are stalling and cooking yourself in traffic.

As I will explain, there are many areas
that need attention, and many things that can go wrong. But if you are a
patient tinkerer with decent mechanical ability, or someone with a fat wallet
and a helpful dealership, then you can keep them running well forever. And most
of the faults are relatively straightforward and easy to rectify given adequate
patience and a careful hand.

What goes wrong?

Electrical – the pre-1999 charging systems
are completely inadequate. The 916 uses a piddling 350 watt alternator that has
a hard time keeping its 16 AMP battery charged without regular hook ups to a
trickle charger. You need to ride for at least 15-20 minutes with varied revs
to recharge the battery from a cold start or a few days of sitting.

The early style alternator uses a stator
hub bolted to the end of the crankshaft on the left side – the nut holding the
hub on has a tendency to loosen and can cause engine seizing, if not serious
crankshaft and alternator damage, so it needs to be verified regularly
(upgraded locking nuts are recommended, especially on 996s).

The regulators on early models are prone to
failing and should have been replaced with an upgraded, metal backed item – but
even these can overheat next to the horizontal exhaust pipe, unless they are
relocated into a cooler spot with better airflow, or better yet replaced with a
solid state MOSFET unit that runs considerably cooler (and is cheaper than a
replacement regulator from Ducati).

The wiring has a tendency to burn out quite
easily if the system is overloaded. The system is not really weatherproof
either – none of the connectors are greased at the factory and key components
are exposed to corrosion. It’s a good idea to go over the entire system with
dielectric grease as soon as you get a hold of it. It’s not uncommon for a bike
to refuse to start after rain riding or washing, simply because water gets into
the connectors and corrodes them.

Things that break – Certain things on the
Superbikes are fragile, and commonly crack or break. Some you need to worry
about, some you don’t… some are potentially catastrophic.

1. The coolant reservoir/expansion tank is
located inside the frame ahead of the airbox and under the fuel tank; because
of its complex shape and awkward position, it tends to crack and leak. Keep an
eye out for leaks and fix it ASAP. Cracking can be prevented by NOT overfilling
the reservoir with coolant (keep it at the recommended levels!) and by thinning
down the rubber grommet that holds it in place slightly to account for heat
expansion.

2. The plastic airbox on early models
(pre-1999-ish) is a bit thin and commonly cracks along the creases of the
plastic and around the mounting holes. This isn’t really anything to get upset
about, just seal the crack with black silicon. You can always put on a later
airbox or if you have the money get a carbon fibre replacement.

3. The triple trees and clip-ons can crack
– this is a serious problem and if it pops up it needs to be fixed immediately
– you don’t want a fork to fall off or a clip on to snap while you are riding.
This is a rare but serious condition. Check the triples and clip ons at each
service and always respect the torque specs for the pinch bolts.

4. The rear wheel spindle was recalled for
the potential to develop hairline fractures – dealers were supplied with an
ultrasound machine to check for invisible cracks. Make sure this has been done.

5. The oil pressure switch (or “sender
unit”, located ahead of the clutch cover) commonly fails. I’m on my third. It
will usually start setting off the oil light intermittently, and oil will seep
up through the switch. Obviously if the oil light starts coming on, check the
oil pressure right away – if it is within specs, then your pressure switch is
to blame. Order a current spec replacement switch “kit” from Ducati, about 35$
including an upgraded waterproof connector.

6. The stock clutch slave cylinder on early
bikes is very likely to blow its seal and dump the hydraulic fluid, leaving you
without any clutch control. If you are masochistic, keep a few spare seals to
replace them when it happens. If you are smart, buy an Evoluzione double-seal
piston or an aftermarket slave cylinder to fix or replace the stocker. You can
also put the later (2001 plus) sealed slave cylinder on, but you need to add a
10mm spacer inside or get a longer 2001+ clutch pushrod to match. I did this on
my bike, using a 10mm length of M8 bolt sawed to length and dropped into the
pushrod to take up the space.

7. The stock sidestand is a spindly
aluminium item, and is very fragile compared to a cast steel item. So don’t put
any undue stress on it – this means ABSOLUTELY NO levering the bike onto the
sidestand to clean the chain or spin the bike around, and always set the bike
onto the stand gently. You do not want one to break unexpectedly, especially
while levering the weight of the bike on it. I’ve broken one and it scared the
almighty bejeezus out of me, fortunately it didn’t topple over when it happened.

8. Generally, Ducati has a fondness for
aluminium bolts. These are nice and light, but they are also prone to stripping
and breaking very easily. So always be gentle and follow the recommended torque
specs whenever you are removing or installing anything.

Things that fall off – Here again, there
are a number of items that need to be watched and loctite-ed to makes sure they
don’t fall off on the go.

1. The fuel tank front mounting bolts have
been known to rattle loose and fall out – this doesn’t sound so bad, until you
realize the bolts site directly above the front cylinder intake. Dropping an
8mm bolt into a running motor’s intake in a quick way to have a spectacular
blow up. There are two bolts securing the front tank bracket to the bottom of the
fuel cell, pull off the tank and secure these with loctite ASAP.

2. The sidestand, when the suicide spring
is bypassed, has a tendency to back out its mounting bolt. This is because the
snap-up spring is connected to the nut that secures the bolt in place – to
bypass the spring you need to get a shortened bolt and ditch the securing nut.
This means the bolt is only held in place with a tiny amount of thread. You
will notice it when it starts to back out, the bike will begin to lean over
further than usual on the stand. My recommendation is to get the bolt and
spring off a late-model bike (they are all pretty much the same). Current
models have a sturdy nut and bolt assembly with a special spring plate in the
back that bypasses the suicide-stand. Slap that on with some thread lock and
she ain’t going nowhere.

3. The oil pressure switch won’t fall off
(thankfully) but the wiring to it is pretty floppy and gets tangled in the
wiring harness near the battery, so whenever the wiring is disturbed it has a
tendency to disconnect the pressure switch. If you notice the light is off when
the ignition is on but the motor is off, then the wire probably came loose and
needs to be reconnected.

4. The front sprocket (“countershaft
sprocket” in Ducati speak) is a unique fully-floating item. This means is
loosely attached to the output shaft with a small brass plate secured with two
8mm bolts. It’s normal to have a significant amount of sideways free play in
the front sprocket but you have to check the tightness of the securing bolts on
a regular basis, and loctite them regularly as well. Also replace the retaining
plate every few thousand miles, it wears out quickly and should be renewed AT
LEAST whenever you replace the front sprocket. The retainer plate is quite cheap
so I replace mine every 6-10k miles.

Fueling – The fuel system is quite prone to
clogging the filter and splitting the fuel lines inside the fuel tank. Replace
the fuel filter regularly and keep an eye on the line for splits – when they
happen, replace the all the internal lines immediately with good quality items,
I recommend UAP/NAPA submersible-rated high-pressure fuel injection line. Most
models use plastic quick-disconnects to connect the tank to the fuel lines –
these should be replaced with metal items (available from Triumph for 955i
models, or from OMEGA lab supplies) because you WILL break at least one in your
period of ownership. Make sure the replacement connectors have Viton rubber
seals. Viton o-rings are used to seal the fuel tank and the quick disconnects,
and woe to the person who doesn’t keep spares for either of them. You can get
generic Viton rings from industrial suppliers for pennies apiece, order a bunch
in bulk and never worry about running to the dealer to pay a buck for a 2 cent o-ring.

Rockers – On post-1996 models, the rocker
arms of the valve system are prone to flaking their chrome. The rockers are
coated in chrome where they contact with the camshaft lobes, and it’s here that
the chrome will wear, pit, and eventually flake off, leading to camshaft damage
and flakes clogging the oil system. The only solution is to buy aftermarket
hard-chromed items from MBP or Megacycle to replace flaking rockers – buying
OEM rockers will not fix the problem and they WILL simply flake again, no matter
what the dealer tells you. To check for the rocker arm problem, pull out the
handy oil strainer on the right side of the motor above the drain plug and look
for chrome flakes. If there are flakes, you need to open the heads and take out
the cams to check the rocker surfaces to know which ones need replacing. If you
don’t find flakes, you can probably rest easy, but the cams should be pulled
and the rocker faces verified at every valve adjustment regardless.

Galley plug – on any pre-2001 Ducati, there
is a possibility of the crankshaft oil-galley (sometimes called “oil gallery”)
plug to back out and start grinding on the inside of the crankcase (actually
the bearing race of the main bearing on the left hand side). Eventually the
plug will fall out and you will lose lubrication to the big-end bearings –
meaning big engine failure. Check the oil strainer for slivers of aluminium
from the plug rubbing the crankcase (they will look like fingernail clippings,
long and thin, whereas chrome flakes are usually small and flat). To fix it,
you need to split the cases, pull out the aluminium plug and replace it with a
post-2001 steel item secured with high strength threadlock and some heavy
staking. It’s a cheap part that can cause big problems if it starts falling
out, and along with the rockers is one of the main things to watch out for,
especially on higher-mileage examples.

Belts – Camshafts are driven by an
automotive style Kevlar-reinforced rubber timing belt, and these MUST be
replaced every 2 years or 12 000 miles. If not, the belts can snap and head and
piston damage will result. Any bike that has been sitting for long periods of
time or has really low mileage is in danger too – the belts will snap if
neglected over several years. Early belts were not Kevlar reinforced and are
more prone to snapping – these are identifiable by their white lettering, as
opposed to red on the Kevlar items. OEM items from the dealership run around
100$ apiece, but you can buy identical Buccior Exactfit belts from third party suppliers for around 45$
each.

Crankcase breather – Ducatis have a fair
bit of crankcase pressure. On race bikes, double breathers (the famous
“pompone” bikes) and large volume undertail breather boxes were used for
maximum power. On the street bikes, the breather is still pretty large by
conventional standards. Unfortunately the stock breather isn’t the best design
and is prone to getting overwhelmed with oil and misting oil over the rear
cylinder. So a fine mist of greasy buildup around the breather is normal. If it
bugs you, you can always get an improved aftermarket breather and reed valve.
Also make sure you don’t overfill the oil.

Wheelies – Ok, wheelies and stoppies are
bad for any bike. Tipping the sump backwards or forwards will shift the oil away
from the sump pickup. On Ducati superbikes you have an added problem – the
above-mentioned crankcase breather. Oil will shoot up the breather when you pop
a wheelie, and has the potential to either spit oil into your airbox (best case
scenario) or spray it over your rear wheel (very bad, especially when you are
in the middle of a wheelie).

Airbox seal – Ducati superbikes use a
unique airbox setup – the top half of the airbox is the bottom of the fuel
tank, the bottom half is a conventional looking box with an open top bolted
into the frame, with a rubber seal between the two. Lift up the tank and you
are looking straight into the throttle bodies. Air is fed into the system
through ram-air ducts along the sides of the cockpit; instead of putting the filter
into the airbox in the conventional spot, there are two filters, one in each
air runner. This allows maximum airbox volume, the best airbox resonance, and
good intake pressurization. Unfortunately, the airbox seal between the ‘box and
the tank isn’t great, and dust can seep in. The best thing to do is coat the
airbox and the runners with a layer of chain lube, install a better seal, and
use oil-permeated foam filters. Some companies sell foam filters that slip over
the air intake trumpets – these will prevent dust from getting into the
intakes, but it also takes up airbox volume, allows junk to get into the airbox
itself, and destroys the crucial resonance effect. I’ve used them and I don’t
recommend them. The fact stock filters cost a fraction of the cost of
ineffective aftermarket items, and work best in most situations, is reason
enough to leave them alone.

Bearings – Italians mechanics seem to have
an aversion to grease so check the condition of the steering and wheel
bearings, and be sure to load them with fresh grease whenever you can (where
applicable, sealed bearings are sealed for a reason and can’t be repacked).

Drops – Ducatis are fragile machines, and a
simple drop in the garage will mean a big repair bill. If dropped on the right
side, the battery can crack and leak acid on expensive engine and frame parts,
and the external dry clutch is easily damaged in lowsides. Fairings are
expensive and easy to crack, as are the mirrors and mounting stems. All of this
is not aided by a spindly aluminium sidestand that is prone to breaking and/or
backing out its mounting bolts. This is assuming the dreaded “suicidestand” has
been bypassed - the original stands were spring loaded to snap up as soon as
the weight was taken off them, and rigged so that the ignition was cut when the
stand was down. This means the bike would easily fall if bumped, and could not
be idled to warm up without sitting on it. Get an aftermarket stand bolt and a
bypass kit if it hasn’t been done already.

Oil – Ducati recommends 10w/40 viscosity
oil in the desmoquattro motor. Most people agree 15w/50 or 20w/50 is a much
safer bet, and full synthetic is highly recommended. This is better for the
bottom end bearings and for the rocker arms, which are prone to oil starvation
due to the nature of the oiling system. Always let the motor idle until the
temperature gauge hits 140 degrees before touching the throttle, otherwise you
may exacerbate the rocker arm flaking issue. Your engine will thank you in the
long run if you take the time to change the oil and filters regularly - with
top quality items - and always warm up before riding.

What’s that noise?

If Ducatis are unique in nothing else, it’s
in the noises they make. Some things can be disconcerting to newbies to the
brand, so here’s a rundown of what to expect:

Dry Clutch – For those in the know, a
Ducati dry clutch is a trick piece of race engineering for the road. To those
who don’t know, it’s a bit scary. The clutch is located on the outside of the
crankcase, and as the name suggests, it’s a dry multiplate unit – it’s the same
as in any sportbike, except it doesn’t sit inside the engine bathed in oil.
There are many benefits (and as many drawbacks) to this system, which I won’t
bother describing here; needless to say, it’s a unique system, and has the
distinction of making one hell of a racket. The noise is due to the clutch
friction plate tabs rattling in the slots of the basket as the clutch spins
around. I’ve heard it described as 1970s Buick with a broken conrod, or as the
sound of a shot crank bearing, or a pair of skeletons having sex in a trashcan.
Whatever it sounds like, it’s loud, it’s different, and it’s nothing to worry
about. It will clatter and clack (tackatackatacka) when you leave it idling in
neutral, and will jingle and boom (kerchinkakerchinkakerchinka) when you pull
the clutch lever in. It will also clatter loudly if you lug the motor below
4000 rpm; driveline lash is a problem with the dry clutch, big power pulses,
and a floating front sprocket. If you run an open cover you will also hear it
when you shift or when under moderate load. If it really bugs you, you can
always put a sound-deadened solid cover (available after 1998, you can tell by
the padding inside the cover) or buy an aftermarket fitted clutch pack that
won’t rattle back and forth in the basket.

Intake – Another source of glorious racket,
the intake roar of an early Superbike is truly awesome. Pre-996 models
(916-748s) had unrestricted intake runners that generate a phenomenal roar from
around 4500 rpm up. This is the airbox resonance effect, sometimes called
Hermholz resonance; it’s the sound of the air alternately pounding into and
getting pushed out of the airbox by the ram-air and intake effects. It’s a good
noise, it means the intake is working properly. 996 and later models had rubber
venturi blocks inserted into the intake runners after the air filters to dampen
the noise – if you want the full noise effect open the runners and pull the
restrictors out. Alternately if you don’t like the noise buy some restrictors
and put them in.

Cams – Here we are talking about a lack of
noise rather than an abundance of it. Because Ducatis use automotive-style
timing belts to drive the cams (look at a Ferrari V8 and compare it to a
desmoquattro with the belt covers removed) there is almost no camtrain noise,
especially compared to the whirring and whining of chain or gear driven cams on
most bikes. You might notice a slight twittering noise on overrun if anything –
those are the desmo valves at work. The belt drive makes a soft whirring noise
as well. Loud valve chatter is bad - it suggests the tolerances are way off, or
a rocker has flaked and there is extra clearance as a result of the missing
chrome.

What do I need to know about
maintenance?

Four-valve Ducs are high maintenance
machines, but everything is pretty straightforward. Follow the service regimen
and your bike will last a long time – but neglect it and you will have serious
problems. Here are some primer points on the unique steps in Ducati maintenance.

Valves – desmo valves need frequent
adjusting due to their valve retaining setup. They use easily deformed
half-rings to hold the valves in place, and over time these rings will shift
and even break, changing the clearances drastically. A solution is replacing
them with oversized, hardened collets from MBP (Canada) or EMS (USA) and
matching shims, or if you are cheap and do your own adjustments reuse the
existing half rings that have already been mashed into submission (assuming
they aren’t broken).

It’s easy to learn how to adjust desmo
valves, so don’t get scared off by the BS of arrogant mechanics. There are
plenty of articles available on the subject (including one of my own) so I
won’t bother repeating the process here. Suffice to say that the biggest
problem is that you need a lot of shims – 16 in total for the desmoquattro,
that’s 8 opening and 8 closing shims. So if you need to adjust a lot of the
valves, it’s a pain to run back and forth to the dealer ordering different shim
sizes. If you have the money, buy an aftermarket shim kit and save yourself
some running around. If the valves are tight, you can get away with carefully
grinding the existing shims down to the correct thickness; be sure to grind
them evenly and accurately on some 400 grit wet sandpaper on a sheet of glass.

The cost of neglecting the valves are
serious – too tight clearances will stretch, mushroom and snap the valve stems
and bash the valve seats, and too loose will cause noticeably poor running,
especially at low rpm, and put more stress on the valve train. Improper
clearances will also increase the likelihood of flaking rockers and cam damage.
So don’t neglect them.

Due to the nature of the design (closing
the valves mechanically), desmo valves are hard on the seats compared to most
conventional valve setups and the lack of spring tension to hold them shut at
close means they are sensitive to leaky seats. To maintain optimum sealing the
valves should be lapped every adjustment, but
this means taking off the heads – use your own judgement on that one, I have
never met anyone who lapped the valves every 6k on a street motor. Every 12-20k
is a good compromise.

Alternator – the alternator nut needs to be
checked every 6000 miles on all desmoquattro motors, moreso on later models
which have looser tolerances on the nut. To check, you need to remove the left
hand cover – early bikes used a now-unobtainable paper gasket to seal the left
cover, later models just use Three Bond sealant. Most people just use the
sealant rather than trying to track down gaskets, but on single-phase bikes you
need to check the clearance of - and possible re-shim - the timing pickup on
the LH cover if you are changing the way it is sealed.

Belts – Another area that should never be
neglected, the belts are pricey direct from Ducati but cheaper from third-party
distributors. CA-Cycleworks sells Exactfit belts identical to the OEM items for
half the cost. Desmotimes carries Bucci equivalents. Replacing the belts is
simple, but tension is critical, Always err on the loose side if you are doing
it without the official tool (you should get it verified at a shop ASAP if you
do so), otherwise the belt will snap very quickly. Again, never, ever neglect
the belts, they are cheap insurance against an engine blow up.

Fuel system – as mentioned before, you need
to keep an eye on the fuel lines and filter. If the filter gets clogged or the
lines split, the fuel pump will work overtime and overload the electrical
system, if the fuel flow doesn’t stop completely. So be prepared to replace the
lines and filter ever 6000 miles or so, and make sure to avoid getting kinks in
the lines. Something that can be considered is replacing the screw-type hose
clamps with gentler snap-type clamps designed for high-pressure fuel injection
lines – again, you can get these from Triumph for the 955i-1050 models. This
will help prevent splits around the edges of the clamps. The o-rings on the
disconnects are very easy to nick due to the design of the coupling (a very
poor and fragile design that I curse often), and spares should always be kept
handy because when they start leaking it’s a real pain in the ass.

Oil – obviously oil changes are important,
but desmoquattros have an extra step in the process – check the strainer. The
oil strainer is a gauze pickup that screws into the right hand side of the
engine above the drain plug, and needs to be taken out every oil change to be
cleaned and checked for metal flakes. Tiny amounts of metal or gasket material
are signs of normal engine wear. Aluminum slivers, chrome flakes, or
significant chunks of metal are bad news. The drain plug is magnetic and picks
up swarf from the transmission, so it’s normal to find a few
fingernail-clipping-like slivers of steel and steel fuzz. If you find a lot of
steel material on the plug, either your shifting technique is atrocious or
there might be something else going wrong…

Ducati says change the oil every 6000
miles. We say change it ever 2000-3000 (with new filter every other change, or
6K), and always use synthetic oil.

What do I need to know about tuning?

Ducatis have a wide variety of tuning
options available, with plenty of nifty parts to empty your wallet. Here are a
few areas of note.

Exhaust – You can’t have an Italian v-twin
without freeing the sound of Italian thunder. Aftermarket systems come in two
forms – full systems (very rare and very pricey), half systems (slip-ons from
the crossover pipes up) and slip-ons. Different models have different exhaust
diameters, from 45mm up to a max of 57mm on race parts. Bigger diameter exhaust
systems don’t necessarily help power, in fact a system that is too big for the
motor tuning will just make it run horribly and sacrifice a significant amount
of torque and midrange power. There is a sweet spot for each model, talk to a
Ducati tuning expert about options. Even a half system will free a fair bit of
horsepower – 5hp at the rear wheel is easily gained on a standard machine with
a proper fuel map, more is possible by uncorking SP, SPS or R models.

EPROMs – These are one of the great
features of Ducati superbikes. Weber-Marelli fuel injection systems (P7
[851/888], P8 [916 Strada], 1.6M [916 Biposto and Senna, 748, 996*]) store
their fuel maps on a replaceable microchip called an EPROM. EPROMs range in
price from 40$ for OEM items or copied aftermarket chips, right up to 250$ for
calibrated, aftermarket chips from specialists like Ultimap. Ditching the stock
EPROM for even a basic unrestricted item (read: open exhaust pipe chip) will
give a significant boost to the midrange and get rid of the 5000 rpm flat spot
(put there for noise and emissions regulation testing). A new EPROM is a must
if you replace the exhaust system, otherwise you will just hurt power delivery.
Let your budget dictate what you want – a Ducati Performance open-pipe EPROM is
cheap and will suffice for most street bikes, but if you want perfect fuelling
you can always get a custom chip burned from dyno testing, or at least get a
calibrated item from a respected tuner.

* Single injector mod (996) – The 996 uses
double fuel injectors, and they are known for being a pain in the ass.
Stumbling, flat spots, and on-off hesitation is a problem with the 996 fuel
system, but it can be fixed by disconnecting the two secondary injectors and
installing a single injector fuel map (often based on the Senna map, which was EPROM number 062, with some extra fuel added) in the 1.6M ECU. Search the net for a step-by-step guide. The
best option is the Ultimap UM222, which is calibrated for a 996 running single
injectors. Ed note - More recent investigations have shown that a good portion of the infamous 996 3500 rpm stumble is due to a significant spike in ignition advance right at that point. Solutions are still being experimented with. Disconnecting one pair of injectors is acceptable for a stock, street going 996 but any attempt to up fueling at high RPMs will result in a 100% duty cycle from the injector, which means the fuel mixture will max out and go lean as the revs build past that point. Once the injector is at 100% you can't add any more fuel. The max ceiling number with a single injector setup is supposedly 117-120hp at the wheel, which is of course rather hard to quantify and pretty vague. Generally if you do any mods to the bike (in terms of cams, pistons or overbore) you won't be able to get by with a single injector per cylinder.

Intake – As I’ve already mentioned, the
stock filters are your best bet for a compromise between airflow and engine
protection. You will always get the best power from stock filters, as all
EPROMs are tuned with stock filters in mind. If you are keen, BCM makes a
modified in-the-runner filter setup, where oiled paper filters slide into
brackets secured to the airbox openings. These filter better than the stock
items, but they don’t solve the airbox seal problem, require airbox
modification, and are expensive. In my unprofessional opinion you should stick
to stock filters, they are cheap and work well enough under most conditions.
Just check them regularly for dust entry and oil them properly.

Head work – One nice thing about 4V Ducatis
is they feature hand-ported heads right from the factory. Combustion chambers
are CNC machined, which gives a smooth combustion surface to improve fuel swirl
and reduce hot spots that could lead to detonation. Porting should be left to
the pros – they are very good from the factory and the only way to improve them
is to reshape things pretty significantly.

Timing – Ducatis respond well to careful
setup of the valve timing. This needs to be done by a pro with the right tools
and the right ideas – different Ducati tuners recommend different timing specs.
Sometimes just baselining the timing to factory recommended specs makes a
significant difference; often the timing will be off a few degrees due to the
loose tolerances of mass production.

Squish – Here again, mass production is
working against you. Desmoquattros run at their optimum with about 1.00-1.05mm
of squish, but most (except for a few hand built homologation specials like the
748R) are between 1.3 and 1.4 mm. On early bikes with a 1.2mm fibre head
gasket, the easiest way to set squish is to remove the 0.3mm base gaskets and
seal the barrels with Three Bond. If you don’t want to ditch the base gasket,
you need to have the barrels shaved at a machine shop. On later models with a
thinner head gasket and thicker base gasket, all you need to do is order some
thinner base gaskets – on the 996, the base gaskets are 0.6mm thick, so you get
0.3mm items and you are set. Always make sure you check the squish properly, if
you have less than 1.00 mm of clearance you will contact the head when the
conrods stretch, causing catastrophic damage.

Cams – Lots of options are available for
hot cams, 916/996 SPS items being the most popular. Standard
851-888-916-748-996s “Strada”cams
have identical profiles and are mostly interchangeable. S4 and ST4/S cams are
Strada spec with slightly modified intake timing for more midrange. VeeTwo made
high lift cams in various specs, FBF still makes them, and there are plenty of
other aftermarket options. But always be aware of the drawbacks – you will lose
low end and midrange power to gain top end, and higher lift mean more stress on
the rockers and valve train. Plus your bike will need thorough tuning to
optimize for the new cams. And they cost a heck of a lot on their own –
cheapest I’ve seen is 1000$ for a set of stock, used SPS items. Take care when
selecting profiles – some cams are not suitable for street use and REQUIRE the
use of high compression pistons with deeper valve pockets.

Pistons – Once you’ve looked up the cost of
a set of Ducati piston rings, you’ll understand why aftermarket forged high
compression pistons are so popular – they cost little more than a set of OEM
rings. There are drop in piston options for the stock bores, which is the
simplest and cheapest way to up compression and refresh worn rings. If you want
to overbore, 853 kits are available for the 748, 955 kits for the 916, and over
1000ccs is possible for a 996. But when you start messing with overbores, you
are stressing the motor beyond its design and can seriously compromise
reliability. Grenading motors are not an economical option for the street. It’s
also advisable to rebalance the crank for different piston weights, and this
means splitting the cases and generally going through a lot of trouble to do it
properly – which a lot of people don’t. My advice is to avoid buying previously
overbored bikes unless you reaaaaally trust the person who did it. And if you
want more power, get the engine built by a pro. Speed isn’t cheap.

Flywheel – On 1.6M single-phase alternator bikes (with a single crank position pickup), the
flywheel is a dead-weight item bolted onto the left hand side of the crankshaft
– it isn’t used for timing purposes like most bikes (including the later three
phase superbikes, as well as P8 computer’ed single-phase bikes with dual pickups).
What this means is that you can completely remove the 2lb flywheel to
drastically reduce rotating mass in the motor. This makes the motor rev
hellishly fast – there is no more power than before, but throttle response will
be really snappy and the bike will rev and reach the powerband a lot faster.
Unfortunately this serious compromises the tractability of the motor, so unless
you race or avoid slow riding entirely it’s not the best option.

Cranks – Crankshafts can be swapped between
models to increase stroke. Almost all Ducati cranks from 1992 on are similar in
design, even the 2Vs are the same as the 4Vs. Obviously you need a piston with
a higher deck height to compensate for the added stroke, otherwise you’ll end
up with a ridiculously low compression ratio (which, believe it or not, has
occurred on some bike that had the wrong crank installed at the factory!).
Putting a 916/996 crank into a 748 will give you 803cc. Putting a 900SS/ST2
crank in will give you 827cc. A 900/ST2 crank in a 916 gives 944cc, in a 996 it
gives 1026cc, and so on. This is just with stock Ducati cranks – aftermarket
options are available too if your wallet can handle it.

Clutch – Where to begin. Needless to say,
the dry clutch has limitless aftermarket options, from lightweight clutch
baskets to anodized pressure plates and springs and all sorts of ventilated
cover designs. Less weight is always good, to reduce the rotating mass of the
engine/driveline, but alloy and aluminium components in the basket and clutch
pack will reduce the longevity of the setup- the stock steel baskets and hubs can last indefinitely
when they are taken care of. Clutch packs will last anywhere from 3000 to 30000
miles depending on how gentle you are on take off and how much stop and go
riding you do. Some easy mods to do (that cost nothing) are removing two
springs to reduce lever pull, removing the rubber gasket from the stock cover
and spacing it with brass grommets (to let the noise out and air in to cool
things), and routinely washing the clutch plates in soapy water. Flip the
friction plates over on a regular basis to even out the wear - it’s a simple
way to eek out extra miles from the pricey clutch packs.

Suspension – the stock components on any
Superbike are above average to really good. As with any bike, you can always
rebuild the shock with a spring for your weight or get new fork internals, but
the stock stuff is pretty good for majority of riders. Usually what your bike
got was determined by what was on the shelf when it was being assembled. For
example, some base bikes got an Ohlin’s shock, others didn’t. In general, the
components respond very well to careful setup, much more so than most Japanese
hardware. On everything except the base 748 models you get an adjustable
steering head angle – this uses eccentric bearing races to adjust the steering
head angle between 24.30 degrees (road) and 23.30 degrees (race). If you don’t
know where yours is set, there is a quick check – see if you can lock the
steering. In race mode, you can’t lock the steering head, in road mode you can.
Also be certain the steering damper is correctly positioned – the rear mount is
for road angle, the forward mount is for race angle. My former mechanic forgot
to switch this after rebuilding my front end and I had a hell of a time trying
to figure out why the bike kept pulling to the left slightly… There is also a
rear shock linkage that can be adjusted to raise or lower the rear ride height.
This should be left stock for most applications – that’s 261mm between the bearing
centres. If you really want to sharpen up the steering, add a bit of length to
the rod.

There are plenty of other things you can
do, just look through a Ducati Performance catalogue some time to see how many
methods Ducati has devised for emptying your wallet.

So why do I want one if it is this much
trouble?

Well, the million-dollar question is always
why do we choose a finicky, high maintenance, fragile Italian machine over a
more reliable, faster Japanese machine. The fact is, these bikes are unlike
anything else on the road. They were legends in their own time, they were
championship-winning racers, and they offer some of the most fantastic feedback
and road feel you will ever experience on a motorbike. The steel trellis
chassis transmits information unlike anything else. Handling and road holding
is fantastic, even 20 years after being introduced. The engine is smooth, and
the power pulses of the big v-twin are easy to manage compared to the
tyre-spinning thrust of a four cylinder. Ducatis are mostly hand-built, even
today, and a lot of attention goes into the details. Despite their flaws, the
motors are very solid and can handle a lot of power when maintained properly.
And having one of the most beautiful bikes of all time doesn’t sound bad does it?

To be frank, we bought our bikes with our
hearts, not with our heads. If you really want one, it doesn’t matter what the
flaws are. They are brilliant machines and us owners are a die-hard lot.

This is the most useful lot of information on this series I have found. I have done some of this stuff after buying my 996 2 years ago, given the considerations. Though not as informed as I would have been had I read this prior. BUT! Any further modification will begin with a reference, and thanks for that. You put a lot of time and thought into writing this and many people who have benefited most likely did not comment, so here is my comment. Great page and if you are still active in thinking about and working on these bikes please get a hold of me. Would love to chat with you and perhaps talk business: acusick@umich.edu

Great article. I stumbled upon your site, and couldn't stop reading. I bought my 1997 Ducati 916 biposto in 2002. Any thoughts i ever had about buying a different bike were trashed whenever I started up my Duc. I will follow your site, and wish you the best on your journey. TC

Great info! I appreciate the thorough post. I own a 750 SS and have found it to be quite reliable. On a side note, I am convinced that Ducati's aren't as unreliable as advertised. I find Ducati owners tend to be perfectionists. If I doted on my Kawasaki the way I dote on my Ducati an outside observer would probably assume Kawasaki's are unreliable. Something to think about, at lest.

Ah good point. I've never encountered this personally and it seems to be less common than originally thought. But it does happen in rare cases. Quick and easy check when looking at a bike is to glance at the back of the sprocket carrier, you can visually see if there isn't enough clearance. There will be metal flakes present if they are hitting the eccentric.

Hey there awsome read, just wondering if i was to put 748 sps piston and barrels on my 748 biposta would i need any further modification to the engine, eg con rods etc cant seem to find much info on this was hoping you could help regards david

Great post. I am concerned that you gave too much information though as this might put off owners. If I can balance it having owned one for 7 years so far. I am up to 49000 miles from buying the bike with 12 thousand miles on the clock. I started a blog from the beginning and the charging issue also affected me. I used the bike every day in the week and weekends. I eventually replaced the regulator rectifier for a mosfat r/r and have had no further problems. I have serviced it myself and can only think of 2 times it let me down. The clutch nut came undone. Fixed at the side of the road and had it tightened to correct torque when home. Another time the battery was flat and had to bump it. Not bad though.Vinnychoff

I love this article. I have a 1999 996 and over the 9 years that I have owned it I've experienced nearly all of the problems mentioned. The bike has nearly 50,000 km and despite the numerous frustrations with cooling, starting and falling over from kickstand failures, I've enjoyed riding it on the track, for daily commuting as well as long road trips(throttle lock helps with these;) and I honestly can't imagine owning/riding anything else. I have also enjoyed becoming intimate with the inner workings of the bike as I have done most of the repairs myself and compared to other bikes I've owned I feel like it was also designed and built with the mechanic in mind - as well as rider. e.g. what other bike can the body work be removed so quickly without tools. One thing about the article that surprised me was that there was no mention of the clutch sprague/starter failure. For a period of few months I was plagued with starting issues until I finally stumbled upon an article re: the starter clutch sprague spring which turned out to be the most satisfying repair to date because it cost me $0, merely snipping 3/4" off & re-attaching the long spring that holds the cams in place solved the issue and has held to this day. When this bike is well maintained there is no better sound than the roar of those twin pipes and what other 17yr. old bike will provoke people to cross from other side of street to take a closer look and wait around for me to start it up before carrying on with their day.996...es magnifico!

Excellent information thanks . My 95 916 has 1mm base gaskets and I can only obtained the Athena head gaskets S410110001008/1 do you think this is ok or will the compression ratio be to low . Regards Stuart